The Ontario government has approved the country’s first architecture school in 40 years at Sudbury’s Laurentian University.

The Ontario government has approved the country’s first architecture school in 40 years at Sudbury’s Laurentian University, the first such school outside Quebec to offer instruction in English and French.

The school is expected to boost the often struggling northern economy, as well as produce more home-grown architects, said Laurentian spokesperson Chris Mercer.

“We outsource a lot of Ontario architecture projects because we don’t have enough talent within our borders,” said Mercer, noting Ontario architecture grads land jobs in their field at a higher rate than almost any other profession outside health.

“There’s tremendous demand for architecture programs — up to six applicants for every spot,” said Mercer, “and Canada’s other 11 schools of architecture signed a letter supporting the need for a new school.”

This is the third new professional school planned for northern Ontario. The first Canadian medical school in 30 years opened in 2005 as a joint program at Thunder Bay’s Lakehead University and Laurentian. Lakehead is also awaiting provincial approval for the first law school in the country in more than four decades.

As for architecture, the province pledged $21 million toward the building of a school in downtown Sudbury to help revitalize the heart of a city once known as a mining moonscape. Sudbury has pledged $10 million toward the $41 million project, and Laurentian hopes the final $10 million will come from the federal government and Ontario’s Heritage Fund Corp.

If finances are nailed down by June, the program could open as early as 2013 with spots for an as many as 270 undergraduates in a four-year bachelor program. There are hopes of adding a two-year master’s program with room for 130 students. Tuition is expected to be around $7,000 a year, comparable to other architecture programs, said Mercer.

“Our primary push would be sustainability and green design,” he said, but curriculum also would focus on designing with wood, given Sudbury’s location in northern woodland. The school would embrace aboriginal students, francophone students and students from northeastern Ontario as well as international students, although it is not clear yet whether they would get priority in admission.

“We’re hoping it will create opportunities in northern Ontario,” said Mercer. “The construction phase alone will create some 300 jobs and contribute roughly $15 million in economic impact.”